Greece has expressed interests to strengthen bilateral relations with the autonomous Kurdistan Region after upgrading its representative office to Consulate-General in Erbil in late 2018, a Greek envoy was quoted saying.

“I am very proud to open the consulate and be the first Consul-General of Greece in Erbil. This was the decision that was taken because we believe our relations with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq are very important,” Efthymios Costopoulos, the Consul-General of the Hellenic Republic, told Kurdistan 24 on Thursday..

“There is a lot of sympathy to the Kurdish people back in my country, and there are a lot of people to people links already. We hope to promote political, economic, and trade relations [with the Kurdistan Region,” he said.

He also expressed hopes that both Erbil and Athens would reinforce their ties in all sectors following the formation of the new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet.

Greece opened its trade office in Erbil in 2009 then it was officially upgraded to Consulate-General in December.